Runaway
by AmberWolfpaw
Summary: - Now updated!- Palletshipping - The diary of Gary and journal of Ash tell their tale of a month together; a month until Gary's birthday. Once that month is up, will Gary choose to leave his grandfather and Ash behind like he planned or will he stay with Ash?
1. April 6, April 7

**Summary **- The diary of Gary and journal of Ash tell their tale of a month together and a month until Gary's birthday. And once that month is up will Gary choose to leave his grandfather and Ash behind like he planned or will he choose to stay with Ash?

**!Warning! - Palletshipping involved!**

* * *

**– Gary's POV –**

**April 6** – It was hot out today. Unlike yesterday. It rained all day, then. Ash had come over to work on our group project for school. He didn't do much except distract me. I tried to get him back on task, but he obviously can't concentrate well. Gramps seems to like him for some reason. It's probably because Ash is so energetic and happy-go-lucky all the time, while I'm always so sullen. It's not my fault. My parents died when I was young. I deserve to be sad. If anything I should be the one taking a liking to Ash, not Gramps. What reason does he have to be sad? He's a successful scientist and practically has Delia as a daughter. I mean, they hang out so much. Whatever. Soon I'll be able to get out of here and start my own life. I'm just a month away from being 16 and with the money I've raised I can still continue school, get a job and a place to live and I'll be set. Then I don't have to worry about Gramp's constant beatings when I get below an A. Just have one month to go.

I'll be out of here.

Soon…

So soon…

**– Ash's POV –**

**April 6** – Mom told me I should start keeping a diary, but I told her diaries are for girls, so instead she's making me have a 'journal' which isn't that different. She says it's supposed to help us 'realize our true feelings and thoughts' and 'allow us to cherish those moments close to us.' It sounds stupid to me, but she says she'll ground me if I don't. She can be a real pain sometimes. Well, I might as well write something down. Let's see… Today I went to school. Then I ate lunch with Gary. He was quiet. It was boring. He was writing something. I didn't get to see it. Then I came home, was forced to write in a journal, and am now going to bed. So exciting, Mom.

**– Gary's POV –**

**April 7** – It's cloudy today, but doesn't seem all that bad. Today was as boring as ever, at school at least. Nothing new happened: Aced any tests or quizzes I had, finished most of my daily homework in class, sat with Ash for lunch and got quite a bit done on the essay for our Renaissance project. He didn't help of course, but to be honest he probably had no idea what I was doing. He was mainly talking to this red-head named Misty. She's a bit perky for my taste. I can see why Ash is friends with her. I wonder if they're more than just friends. I'm not really sure why the idea of that bugs me. Maybe it's because Ash reminds me of me before my parent's died and I can't see myself with someone like her. Maybe it's because he's just so innocent that the idea of him dating seems so unreal. Either way, I don't like Misty and Ash being together; and it's not because I'm jealous.

Anyways, after-school Ash came over again. This time we actually worked together and got some stuff done. I worked on typing up the information while Ash started to paste the paragraphs that I'd print onto green paper and laid them out onto the board. It was fun, really. I typed while half listening to him talk. It was nice. Gramps never really disturbed us either. He was probably busy typing up something for a report. At 6:30, Delia came over to pick up Ash. He and I got to just hang out on the couch for a while until Gramp's and Delia stopped talking. We didn't talk much, Ash and I. Mostly he just kept going on and on about God knows what. I just nodded and 'uh-huh'-ed every now and then. I've never been much of a talker ever since Gramps took me in. He always nagged at me for not getting good enough marks on my assignments at school. Only 29 days left…

…29…

**– Ash's POV –**

**April 7** – Once again I've been sent to write in this stupid thing. Well, I went to school, then I ate lunch with Gary. Misty came over and talked to me. We talked about how our teacher for History kept twitching his eye. It was funny. Gary didn't say a word. Again. All he did was write. I swear that boy's got issues. Then I went to his house and we worked on our board. He typed and I laid out the stuff. He ended up rearranging them because 'they were too crowded.' He's very annoying, but for some reason I still want to hang out with him. I don't get myself sometimes. Then Mom came over and talked to Mr. Oak for a while. I rambled on about some stuff that happened at school and how Mom's making write in this stupid journal. After a while we came back home. Turns out Mom has to leave for a business trip tomorrow and I'll be staying with Mr. Oak and Gary. Can't wait! Not. This should be interesting.

* * *

Well, how'd you like it? Think I should continue? I'm still going to whether you like it or not, but just wondering if you like it. Wait for the next chapter. It will hopefully be up soon!


	2. April 8, April 9

– **Gary's POV –**

**April 8** – It's a bright day today. Not a cloud in the sky. The wind was calm as it blew through the trees. Gramps told me today that Ash will be living with us for a couple of weeks. He and I are supposed to share a room because there are no guest bedrooms. This should provide to be entertaining. I'm not entirely sure how Gramps plans for us to sleep. I sleep alone, so either I'm sleeping on the floor or he is and I can almost guarantee that I am not going to sleep on the floor.

Aside from that, school was pretty fun today for a change. In Language Arts we're to make a poem about something we hold dear, an alliteration, a rhyming poem, a haiku, and five different types of poems of our choice and we have to put them into a scrapbook like form. It's due at the end of this month, which is rather ironic since it's due the day I'm planning on leaving. I'm not entirely sure what to write about yet. I do like poetry, it's just hard for me to come up with an idea of what to write about. Maybe I should do one about Ash's energy…

Would that be weird?

I mean, I could easily make it seem to be about something completely unrelated to Ash so only I would know the true meaning. I could make it about a raven since Ash has raven colored hair. That could work. Now would I put that in my free choice poems or could I make that my haiku. Maybe my rhyming one? I'll figure it out later. But I do like the idea of the raven as Ash. It fits him really if you think about it. Aside from the fact his hair and his eyes do resemble that of a raven's, his ability to soar over whatever comes his way is like that of a raven also. Plus, raven's always seem to be at least content with what's going on at the time and I can't recall a time I've seen Ash sad. Maybe during the time he stays with us I can figure out more raven like qualities of his.

Ash as a raven.

Ash is my raven.

Ash is my raven boy.

– **Ash's POV –**

**April 8 **– Well, here I am again, writing in this stupid thing as I debate what to pack to Gary's. Mom said I can only bring a suitcase full of clothes and my backpack full of whatever else I wanna bring. I think I'll bring my manga's over… Definitely the laptop, that's an obvious one. Um… What else…. I dunno. I'll figure it out at the last minute like I always do. School was so lame! We have to write poems! I mean, who likes poetry these days aside from old people? No one! The teachers are so lame and they even said we'd enjoy it. Oh, and get this, we have to put all our 20 some poems in a fricken scrapbook thing! Maybe I can get Gary to do it. No, he would just nag me about being lazy. Oh God, I can't believe I'm going to be staying with him and his even stricter old man for TWO. WHOLE. WEEKS! I'm going to freaking dieeeeeeeeeeee! Someone just shoot me now, please. This is going to suck butt.

I just hope I don't die from naggation. Naggation. That's a funny word, even if it is made up. Lackadaisical is another weird and funny word. Gary used it to describe one of our teachers. He never told me what it meant, but since he called our Science teacher it, I'm guessing it's a fancy word for lame or boring. Something like that I'm sure. But then again, maybe Gary thinks he's a really exciting guy since he's so boring and lame himself. I should ask him tomorrow when I come over or maybe at school if I remember to.

Wow, I think this is the most I've written in this stupid thing. This should count as two or even three days. See that Mom! I can write if I want to! Bye journal…

Oh God, I just said goodbye to this thing. Why didn't I just erase that. Why am I writing all this down…..

– **Gary's POV –**

**April 9** – The weather is cloudy. There are quite a few dark clouds in the background that look like a possible storm could be coming. Today is the day Ash should be coming over. It's 3:15 right now. Ash should be over at about three forty-five, so I probably should hurry and write down whatever I can before he gets here. I wouldn't want him to know that I keep a diary. He'd probably laugh. I'll have to fill out the rest later at night when he's asleep. Today at school was just your average day. Nothing special at all really. We worked on our project for History, but we have it all done. Ash and I just practiced our lines for the presentation. He continuously stumbled over words, so I always had to help him. Maybe I made it a bit too complex sounding. I'm sure some of the words will stick to him then he can at least sound the slightest bit educated.

Language Arts was a workday also. We worked on our poems and Ash actually had the nerve to ask me to do his. Of course I refused, but still. He told me he couldn't write a poem to save his life and after he read me what he had, I believed him. I remember a little bit of it.

It was: The sky was cloudy.

I didn't like the rain though.

It was windy, fin.

I mean, what kind of poem is that? At least he had the right syllable count which was more than I thought he could handle. I, meanwhile, have figured out a rough draft for my raven poem. Here it is:

**The Raven**

By: Gary Oak

As black as the night sky,

He soars above the city lights.

Without a worry in his mind, he flies.

Swooping, soaring, and gliding.

Into clouds he goes, making patterns in the sky.

I think it's pretty good so far, but obviously there's plenty of room for improvement. After all, it was something I basically threw together during class, but it's a start. I find it really sad that these days no people in my generation pays any attention to poetry. It's really depressing because poetry can take five words and make it have a meaning that could easily take five pages to explain.

Wait – there's the doorbell. Ash is here. I'll finish writing in you later.

* * *

Okay, I'm back now. I'm lying in my bed right now and Ash is sleeping only inches away from me. I can hear his slow breathing. It's quite peaceful, honestly. _He _looks peaceful. His raven hair dangled in his closed eyes. His chest rose and fell as he breathed. The dark blue of his pajamas look pitch black in the darkness. The red and white cap he always wore laid on the nightstand next to my bed. I heard the roar of thunder in the distance. I guess those were storm clouds I saw earlier. I could make out a faint tapping of some very light rain starting on the windows and roof.

When Ash came over, I lead him to my room and had him start to unpack. While he was getting out his personal belongings, I cleared out some closet space for his clothes. I also cleared out one of my nightstands for his use. Gramps forced me to share a bed with him. At least my bed was really big, otherwise I probably wouldn't have agreed, even if I knew that I didn't have a choice in the matter. Gramps and Delia were talking downstairs. I didn't know what about, but it must have been interesting because they were laughing a lot. Delia seems to make Gramps in a much lighter mood that he is when it's just us two. He's always scolding me, but when she comes over, he doesn't even care if I come home late when I go over to Ash's place. It's as if Delia's my 'Get out of jail free' card. Whatever it is that she has that can work that kind of magic on him, I wish I had it.

The rain is starting to pour down harder and the thunder is getting louder. Ash stirs in his sleep occasionally. At times I wonder if he's having a bad dream, but then he goes back to his peaceful state.

Once I cleared out closet space and a nightstand for him, he put his clothes in the closet and his manga's in the drawers along with all the other random stuff he brought. He placed a tan covered book on the top of the nightstand. I asked him what it was and he said it was, I quote, 'This stupid journal my mom's making me write in. It's soooo lame.' I don't see the big deal about having to write a journal, especially since I write in my diary every day. I suppose it's because I'm not your average kid. I'm much more mature than what I should be for my age. It's both a good, yet bad thing. Good, because it allows me to approach situations at hand with a more adult and sophisticated attitude, yet it deprives me of the fun that most kids my age experience. Ash is probably on the deep end of immature, whilst I am on the opposite deep end. He's North and I'm South.

North and South: another good poem idea. I'll have to use that. See, writing helps you with anything, even ideas for poems that were assigned for school.

The rain is pounding now and the thunder is as loud as a machine gun, practically and I can now see flashes of lightening light up my room from my window. Ash is tossing and turning a lot now. More than he was before. Is it, maybe, that the storm is turning his dream into a nightmare? I'll probably never find out.

What else to write? I can't think of anything… I guess I'm do—

* * *

Sorry I had to end so abruptly. Ash woke up. He bolted out of bed with a terror stricken face. He looked completely terrified. He looked around the room as if he didn't know what was going on. But the strangest thing was… He saw me, froze, then pounced on me. It wasn't an attack, but a hug. He held onto me tighter than I thought anyone was capable of. I could hear him trying to hold in his tears, but eventually he failed and ended up sobbing and getting my back wet with tears. I hugged him back, because it was the right thing to do. He was sweaty, cold and shaking. Obviously in a cold sweat, but I couldn't figure out from what. Perhaps it was the storm. Maybe he was afraid of thunderstorms. We sat there, hugging for a while as he cried over my shoulder. I was getting really tired and rested my head on his shoulder. Not because I wanted to, but because I wanted a head rest so my neck could rest. Eventually he cried himself to sleep. I laid him back down and pulled the covers over him so he wouldn't get cold. Once I finish writing, I'll go to sleep. I just had to get this written down.

Ash looks really cute when he's asleep…

Wait – I didn't mean it like that. Well, I don't really know what I meant.

The clock reads 1:23. I guess it's technically the 10th now…

…25 days to go…


	3. April 10

**Author's Note** - The noticeable Palletshipping will start soon, I promise. Just hang on for a few more entries, please!

* * *

– **Ash's POV –**

**April 10****th**** – **Well, I completely spaced on writing in this thing again. Hope Mom doesn't get mad about missing a day. Whatever.

Today's Saturday which is awesome! Gary's gonna show me around the house today. I already know where most stuff is, but I guess he's also showing me the backyard too. I don't know why I'd have to be shown around the outside, but whatever. Mr. Oak went out shopping for food and left me and Gary alone here for the day. Um… Last night we had sandwiches because there wasn't anything else, really. I guess that's it…

Oh! Wait, I had a really strange dream last night too. I was in a forest, but there was sand instead of grass. A ton of strange looking animals appeared between the trees. Then, a small yellow mouse looking creature came up to me and smiled. Then, it started to rain. Then sparks came out of the thing's cheeks and shot lightening at me, which was really, really weird. Then I had another dream right afterwards. I bolded up in bed and for some reason was terrified. Then I heard the sound of thunder and rain and I'm guessing it was the storm that was scaring me. I looked at the clock and it said 12:36. Then I saw Gary staring at me curiously. I just stared at him for a while. I'm still not sure why. Then I jumped on him and hugged him for some reason. I still can't figure out why, but dream Gary was warm. It kinda felt… good. In a dream sense you know. And then, I started bawling like a baby. Geez, if I really did that because of a silly thunderstorm (Even though I am really scared of them), especially in front of Gary, I'd totally die from embarrassment. Good thing it was a dream though.

I just keep writing more and more each day, huh?

Weird.

Maybe Mom was right about this stupid thing...

Nooooooooo! I don't even know where that came from.

Anyways, that's all I have for sure now.

– **Gary's POV –**

**April 10****th**** – **It's misty outside after the storm. Very humid, also. The dew on the leaves made the earth look much moister. I'm out in the barn right now, lying outside Midnight's stable. He's a good horse. As black as night with piercing blue eyes, he is. Normally, I'd take him out riding, to go clear my head, but I don't want to wander to far from the house since Ash is all alone inside.

Gramps left to go and get some more food. I guess he's going to try to make a ham. That should be interesting to watch.

I can hear Midnight's crunching and chewing as he eats the apples I gave him.

This morning was rather annoying. We were all sitting down at the table, eating breakfast. I had cereal, Frosted Flakes to be specific; Ash had buttered toast as he was scribbling things hastily down in his notebook. Gramps had some kind of breakfast shake that looked like the color of dead grass. I don't even want to know what he put in that thing.

Anyways, we were all sitting quietly at the table, each minding our own business. Mine being what I was going to write about for my poems and thinking about my runaway plan. Ash, I was inferring, was about whatever he was writing and Gramps was probably about work. But, as I was proven wrong, I assume he was actually thinking about how to make Ash's stay more bearable. And I suppose a nice home-cooked meal was homier than sandwiches. I suppose that would be true, but I'm just used to grabbing some bread from the counter and a pop and having that be my dinner as I work on homework.

It still bugs me, only because the fact that Ash is here now, Gramps decides that we should get some more food into the house. I guess I wasn't good enough to have better meals than Ash is. However, I suppose it's only out of courtesy, but I'm not sure if that's the only reason behind his motives. Perhaps I'm over thinking this.

Am I?

I think I am.

It's only a ham. I can become worried when Gramps starts buying these crazily priced foods and taking us out to dinner every day of the week. That would be the time to start questioning my place in his eyes. I can tell Gramps does like Ash more than his own flesh and blood, but I can't be mad at him for that. I'll become successful, I know that, but Ash has a brighter and livelier spark of life in him. My spark is so dull it's barely even a light. It's easy to tell why so many people like Ash. He's very charismatic. His personality just draws people towards him. My personality just drives people away. I'm surprised Ash hangs around me as much as he does. You would think he would go and sit with his friends, Misty and Brock, but he chooses to sit with me quite often at lunch, even when we don't have a project to work on. Even in class, when we have to have partners, Ash will always try to make eye contact with me, suggesting we should – we are – partners. His childish ways are rather cute, but maybe that's common behavior for a sixteen year old. I can't really decide since I act much older than I truly am.

Wait a minute –

Did I just call Ash… cute?

No, I called his behavior cute, that's different, isn't it?

Why am I always writing about Ash?

Even two poems for class I've been basing off of Ash or something related to him.

…

I need to clear my head…

* * *

Well, it's 2:30 approximately now. After I stopped writing before I went to take Midnight out for a quick ride in order to clear my mind. I just walked around the yard, within sight of the house. We did circles around the yard. I set up a small agility course for him also. He's an amazing jumper. We jumped, galloped, and maneuvered through the course. I was lost in my thoughts, instincts guiding my hands to guide Midnight.

I was thinking about Ash. Such a surprised due to how I left off before. It makes me wonder… A thought ran across my mind that I might actually have feelings for him, but that's ridiculous. That would make me… well, gay, and I know for sure that Gramps would **NOT** approve of that. He'd probably disown me. Maybe I should run away sooner than I planned.

No Gary, just wait. You just have to endure a few more days.

Anyways, as I was riding, Ash came out. He seemed shocked and impressed at my riding skills. He asked if he could have a go after he got all of his excited yelling about how he never knew we had animals. I told him the basics, but I highly doubt he was even really listening to me. He was preoccupied by petting Midnight and fawning over him. Once I finished, he put Midnight into a gallop. He was yelling with happiness as the black horse ran around the yard at full blast. Midnight was probably just happy someone was allowing him to run around at full speed. I haven't ridden him that fast in a while. Mainly after I planned on running away. I think the hardest part of the whole running away deal would be having to leave Midnight. I could truly care less about Gramps, but that black stallions been with me ever since I was young. Mom and Dad bought him for me when I was only two years old. They knew I'd love him when I got older and now that horse is one of the few things left of my parents.

Ash loved the whole ride. He was screaming out how he just needed a cowboy hat and he'd be set and that he wished he could go and lasso some cattle. I smirked at that. I could just imagine Ash trying to lasso cattle. The sun reflecting off of his pitch black hair, a slight breeze making that hair sway gently in the breeze as he watches the cattle grazing quietly. Then, he and his horse sprint down the hill upon which they were standing on. The cows hear him and scatter. Ash raises his lasso and spins it in the air.

Whoosh!

The rope soars through the air and lands around the neck of the bull. He pulls and tightens the rope. He's got him.

Well, I just added a pointless paragraph or two to this entry. I don't know why I wrote that down. This entry's very long. Perhaps I should stop, but there's still plenty to write about. Mainly about Ash's ride.

I do think about him a lot. I write about him, think about him, everything! It's like these past few days, my life is revolving around Ash. Why is that? Do I really… have feelings for him? I wonder what he'd think of me if he found out I might. Does he feel the same? Do I even really have feelings for him in that way, or is it some other weird relation like a brotherly love? I guess I am protective of him. It probably is brotherly love.

Yeah, that…


	4. April 11

**– Ash's POV – **

**April 11****th**** – **So, it was awesome. Gary showed me all the horses and other cool animals he had outside. I even got to ride his horse. His name was Midnight. He was so cool. I really wanted to go catch some cows, but Gary wouldn't let me, so I pretended. It was a ton of fun. I never knew that Gary's house could be so interesting. I mean, his grandpa always seemed to be cooped up in his study working and Gary's not much of a talker, but it seems like lately both of them seemed to have been funner.

Mom's always telling me that funner's not a word, but everyone uses it, so it might as well be a word.

Whatever. What does she know?

Anyways… Today we're planning on going with Mr. Oak on some business trip. He has to head over to Celadon City. It's supposed to take a few days, but he doesn't trust us alone for five days. I'm just glad to get out of school for a week, but I don't think Gary'll handle it as well. He's kinda nerdy and nerds love school, so he might die from lack of teachers or something stupid like that. Wonder what he does during summer? I bet he hibernates during the summer instead of the winter like normal animals. Haha! I just wrote down my laugher…. I've no comments.

Well, this seems fairly long…. I dunno if I'll write later. Who knows, maybe Gary'll d-

* * *

Hi, I got bored and decided to read some DBZ. Wow, I just said hi to this notebook... I'm loosing it. I swear, I've been hanging around Gary waaaay to much. I mean, I've started writing more, using bigger words... Heck, I now know what omniscient means. I've never heard that word before in my life! It means all-knowing if your wondering. Wait - why would a dumb journal wonder...? Yup, it's certain. I've lost it. I give up in life.

Anyways, I was reading my awesome manga of actionness when Gary started staring at me. It was kinda creepy. I asked him why he was doing it, but he just shrugged and went back to writing. I was curious what he was writing. I'd seen him write in that thing before, but he never let me read it. I'm thinking of stealing it at some point and reading it over. Couldn't hurt to see what he's writing. Maybe I can blackmail him into doing my homework for me! I'm so evil, but a genius. An evil genius! I was talking to my friend Brock who knows this gay guy that apparently has the hots for Gary. I don't know why he would like him, I mean he's a nerd. He's smart, quiet, strange, weird, unloved, simple clothes that seem to bring out his deep, sorrowful eyes that are usually covered by this shiny, silky hair...

Woah! What the heck did I just write? Something's wrong with me. I bet he drugged me or something. Maybe it was the ham, it did taste a little funny.

Whatever, I'm going to stop writing before something strange happens.

**– Gary's POV – **

**April 11****th**** – **It's pretty calm out, not an over abundance of clouds, just a simple amount that makes the sky seem that much more lively in comparison to an empty, blue hued sky. I'm sitting on the couch, vaguely listening to the sound of the news projecting from the television. Ash is busy reading some manga called "Dragon Ball – Z." The pictures from the quick glance I managed to get while passing his upside-down figure seemed ridiculously… what's the word I'm searching for… sharp? I suppose that's one way to put it. I don't know why he'd read such a waste of paper. A brilliantly written novel or poem could have been transcribed on that creamy sheet of paper, but instead it's been used for entertaining the simple-minded teens of today's society; Ash, sadly, being apart of that ever-expanding group.

His rich black locks sway gently in the breeze emanating from the open window beside him. The wind plays with his hair the way I wish I could, creating a changing pattern of thick and thin lines. His lips lightly whisper the words that were sprawled across the page, taking in each drop of action and suspense the book provided.

I'm finding myself smiling. It's strange, as of last night, my obsession with Ash doesn't seem as strange to me as it use to. Perhaps I just came to peace with it or my emotions are playing tricks on me. Whatever the case, I'm glad I can just enjoy this peaceful moment with him without a distraction in sight. He's turning his head towards me and staring at me with his big, beautiful chocolate eyes that seem to hold the child-ness I haven't had in ages.

He asked me why I was staring at him and I could have told him everything that I've been writing in this diary, but I couldn't. Who knows how he would have reacted. So, despite what my instincts told me, I merely held his gaze a little longer and shrugged as I went back to writing. He didn't seem to care, either that or was too interested in his petty manga to really investigate the reason.

Or… perhaps he thought I was strange to begin with and simply tallied this incident up to that. A strange feeling overcame me at that thought. It was nearly the same feeling when Gramps would stare at me with disappointment and disgust, but it wasn't identical. It was as if you took fear and combined it with worry and disappointment. Whatever that feeling was called, I never want to experience it again for as long as I exist on this Earth.

On another note, I found out that Gramps has to take a trip to Celadon City, which means I'll be gone from school for a week. We leave on Monday, so I'm going to have to e-mail my teachers so I can complete my absent work during our trip. I doubt Ash has thought that far. He's probably just looking forward to being able to abandon any school related thought for a week more than our other colleagues. I'm not necessarily excited for this spur of the moment trip, however, that does mean more days without school to hang out with Ash.

Would it be so bad if I did like him in that way? I know there are plenty of gay people at school. I've seen them engrossing themselves in each other's presents under the stairs. I just… I can't imagine the innocent, jubilant Ash being queer. If anything, he and the redheaded girl he hangs out with so much would become a couple. The odds of that are far more likely that the two of us becoming a couple. It's logical for me to forget about my possible interest in Ash, but even though I tell myself this many times over and over again, I can't get the thought out of my brain.

Is this what lo...

Never mind.


End file.
